I'm sure this is prevalent across Canada with various city, town and province hotel and tourism associations but seeing that Rewards Canada is in Calgary I wanted to focus on what the Calgary Hotel Association (CHA) is doing for the COVID-19 pandemic. Working in conjunction with Tourism Calgary the association has set up a list of all their member hotels who are accepting reservations and providing special rates for front-line and health care workers and those people who need to self-isolate. They are also working closely with select member hotels to provide accommodations for vulnerable Calgarians during this time.
Front-line and Health Care Workers
The CHA has a list of hotels on their website where front-line and health care workers seeking accommodation or isolation solutions while they provide critical services at Calgary’s primary facilities. The list of hotels provides contact details as well as distances from hospitals and urgent care centers. You can access the list here (Excel spreadsheet)
Self-Isolation
The CHA also has a list of member hotels who are providing accommodations to those people who need to Self-Isolate - whether that's from coming back to Calgary from overseas or being potentially exposed within the community. You can access the list here. You will notice they are all near the Calgary airport so if you are not in that part of the city you could reach out to the CHA or other hotels directly to see if they are accepting reservations for Self-Isolation.
I spoke with the CHA's Sol Zia (you may recognize Sol from his occasional posts here on Rewards Canada and his providing of extra Maple Leaf Lounge passes for some of our giveaways) as to whether the hotels are offering discounted rates for the above situations. While each hotel has a different policy in place Sol did state that "the rates are likely heavily discounted - I know many are in the $69, $79 and $89 range" We recommend that you call or email the hotel directly via the contacts from the above links to see what the special rates may be.
Vulnerable Calgarians
For vulnerable Calgarians the CHA is also working "in collaboration with the City of Calgary and Community agencies and shelters by connecting them with Calgary hotels directly to supply adequate and safe housing options for vulnerable Calgarians. At this point in time, the agencies are working directly with a select number of hotels determined as the best fit for each agency’s needs." This list of hotels is not provided for confidentiality reasons but it is great to know they are taking people in need at a time when it is needed the most.
Learn more about the CHA's COVID-19 initiatives here.
Now it's your turn Rewards Canada community!
What is your local city, association, tourism board doing to help out? Let us know in the comments below so that they can all get a well deserved shout out!
Images via Calgary Hotel Association